Rhode Island Passes Legislation to Extend Foreclosure Mediation

Nicole Wilmet, July 31st, 2018

In May, I reported that the Rhode Island foreclosure mediation program was in jeopardy of ending on July 1, 2018 without legislative intervention. In June, the Rhode Island legislature intervened to extend the state’s Foreclosure Mediation Act.

Enacted in 2013, the Rhode Island’s Foreclosure Mediation Act grants homeowners who face foreclosure the opportunity to meet with their lender and an independent mediator to try to work out a solution to avoid foreclosure. According to the Providence Journal, since 2013 the Foreclosure Mediation Act has helped 679 families stay in their homes. As I reported in May, the House and Senate sponsored two different versions of the bill with the Senate version extending the sunset provision to July 1, 2023 and the House version repealing the sunset provision entirely. In May, the Senate voted and passed their version of the bill while the House Judiciary Committee recommended that their version of the bill be held for further study.

On June 28, 2018, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo signed the Senate version of the bill into law. Under the new law, the Foreclosure Mediation Act’s sunset provision has been extended to July 1, 2023.